Unequal societies: Why civilization led to social divisions

With the advent of civilization, surplus agriculture meant specialized labor would create a division in society based on importance of position, religion,

family and jobs. This social stratification would persist in some manner to this day

The establishment of a class system came through many systems present within each society

• Laws were quite often unequal and applied differently based on class.• They punished slaves (POW, debtors or criminals) women and “foreigners”

as well as commoners more severely. Slaves farmed agriculture, noble estates and as domestic servants

• Laws would also recognize family law, inheritance,• And decisions to go to war. who were making these ancient decisions?

252. If he kill a man's slave, he shall pay one-third of a mina.

Labor created social stratification…• Control over trading regions led to the rise of a merchant class

(Phoenicians and Minoans). • China placed little value on the merchant because of the time away from

family(most important influence in culture)• Labor was very important (what you did generally determined where on

the social strata you would be placed• Labor in India was based on the caste: The Sudras did much of the

agricultural work while the untouchables buried the dead, cleaned the streets and sewers.

Religion was quite powerful ion the ancient world

• Priest-kings dominated Mesopotamia and the Olmecs (practiced rituals, celebrated important ceremonies and made important societal decisions

• Pharaohs claimed divine right over the people (see mummification)• Hinduism served as the glue to hold together primarily decentralized India(caste

was occupation, obligations and social arrangements• Temples were centers of social interaction and religious control( Teotihuacan,

Ziggurats, Shrines. Ancestor venerations)

Missing social voices?• Slaves (not based on color)• Peasants• Women• Commoners• Farmers Most of these individual were illiterate, owned no

land • Non-citizens and were commonly marginalized• Nomads• Children• Why?

Important writers and Artisans

• Scribes helped to keep records, document important events and account exports and imports• Engineers would work for the government to help build monumental architecture and

develop water management techniques

• Warriors would lead the elite fighting forces and their superior military technologies.These individuals would hold a place just below nobility according them privileges, rights and entitlement (land, agriculture, fortune)

Sedentary Agriculturalist, nomadic pastoralists, sea-faring peoples

Type of System Types of technology developed

Main geographic locations

Agricultural societies – cultivate crops 8,000 BCE

domestication of plants and animals iron tools writing systems constant development

river valleys in Mesopotamia, Nile River valley, India, China and non-River valleys in MesoAmerica and the Andes

Pastoral societies – domesticated animals 8,000 BCE

domestication of horses and camels

steppes, grasslands, deserts, mountain ranges

Sea-Faring SocietiesAdaptation to maritime navigation 2000 B.C.E

Ships, Sails, Seasonal Winds

Mediterranean Sea, Indian Ocean

Thesis• From 4000 B.C.E-600 B.C.E in both South Asia and the Middle East the role of

women was diminished due to man’s need to protect his property inheritance, both had divisions of labor with a rigid social hierarchy with little chance of social mobility, however the caste system of the Aryans was religiously based on the Hindu principles illustrated in the Rig Veda while the social distinctions in Mesopotamia were based on legal distinctions in the code of Hammurabi